GabyTemperature Month , as well as Earth’s temperature It changes depending on whether sunlight hits its surface. However, temperature fluctuations on the Moon are very significant compared to our planet.
“The temperature wildly fluctuates from extremely high to extremely low,” said John Monier, a professor of astronomy at the University of Michigan (USA), in an interview with the publication. Live Science According to him, the temperature on the Moon can vary on average from minus 100 °C to over 100 °C.
For comparison, the average surface temperature of the Earth is 15 °C. However, according to NASA, it ranges from minus 89 °C to plus 57 °C.
Although the Earth and the Moon are approximately the same distance from Sun (about 150 million kilometers), there are several factors that affect why their temperatures are so different.
First of all, the Earth has an atmosphere that retains heat and supports moderate, life-sustaining temperatures. The Moon has no atmosphere, making it vulnerable to intense heating from the Sun.
On Earth, unlike the rocky moon, there are vast oceans that absorb and store the energy of the Sun and slowly release it at night.
Meanwhile, the lunar soil, known as regolith, is a “good insulator,” noted Professor Monier. Thus, both in light and darkness, the surface of the Moon retains heat or cold. These temperature changes vary across the Moon’s surface.
According to the data NASA Near the equator of the Moon, temperatures can reach 121 °C in sunlight and drop to minus 133 °C in darkness. Overall, the surface of the Moon has the most extreme thermal environment in the Solar System after Mercury. As Professor Monnier noted, at the poles of the Moon, the Sun neither rises nor sets. It never goes more than 1.5 degrees above or below the horizon, casting long shadows that rotate with the Moon. Because of this, some craters on Earth’s natural satellite are in perpetual darkness. As the professor suggested, these craters, known as permanently shadowed regions, may contain trapped ice particles that could be crucial for human survival on the Moon.
In 2022, NASA measured its temperature using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a robotic spacecraft launched in June 2009. It turned out that some shaded areas inside the craters maintain a temperature of around 17 °C. This means that such craters could potentially become favorable locations for sheltering people.
However, in some shaded areas of Earth’s natural satellite, it can be extremely cold. Recent studies indicate that it may even have the lowest temperature in the Solar System.
In the craters at the Moon’s south pole, scientists believe that temperatures can drop to as low as minus 248.15 °C or even lower.
Understanding how the temperature on the Moon varies in different locations will be crucial for future research. Considering the possibility of long-term human presence on the Moon, it is necessary to create equipment that can withstand extremely high and low temperatures, believes Professor Monnier.
